20 Days....2 Bids

We got a call from our realtor last night and he told me that we have offers for the house!! Woohoo!! Now we don't know if they will work out because we have to figure out closing costs and such but we are super excited that after only 20 days on the market (and the house only actually being seen by 5 clients) we are dealing with two people interested. This gives us much hope that if these don't work out there will be more in the near future. On our online showing site we got great reviews like "very nice house" and "great layout!"

This confirms to me that some dirty walls, dusty carpet edges, and 2 dogs won't scare people off if your house shows well in other areas!

I have been one busy girl this week as we have had showings every day. But I tried not to complain and diligently vacuumed for the hundredth time knowing that my work would eventually pay off. Yeah!!

This bit of good news further confirms to our hearts that God will honor our decisions to be financially responsible. Thank you, Jesus!!

Walking Baby!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

So the other day Isaac walked around the house for like 20 minutes holding his Valentine balloon and listening to his songs on his player. It was actually nice to have a break from the usual running, screaming, bouncing off furniture and growling that goes on after naps. And I am not talking about the dogs.
And look how long Vivi's hair is getting!

Little House

Today we got a call for someone to view our house...finally!! After two weeks of it being on the market! So after 40 minutes of rushing to get it ready, we headed out-dogs and all. Isaac wanted to know what all the fuss was about so I told him people were going to look at our house so we can sell it. He got sad and said he didn't want to sell the house. I told him what a fun adventure it will be to pack up all our stuff and move to a new house...apartment...house, he doesn't know the difference! He asked if there would be new toys at the new house and when I said there might just be, he was ready to go! Oops...maybe I should have waited on having this conversation!

After a nice lunch, we stopped in at our city's new African American Museum. We missed the dedication ceremony last Saturday. :( It is a little house that was once in the segregated part of the city called QuakerTown. Here is a picture of it in 1945. Most of the other houses in Quakertown were torn down to build a city park and university, but this house survived. So they picked it up and moved it near the square next to another museum (seen partially on the left) and then spent 2 years restoring it.Here it is restored. It is the tiniest house I've ever seen...three-rooms...a living room w/fireplace, kitchen, and bedroom. At times black families with 3 and 4 kids all lived in this little home. Inside are pictures and descriptions of the time when the town was segregated. We saw school houses and businesses. It was really neat.

So they parked it next to this victorian looking doll-house/museum. As we pulled out onto the street, I looked back at the two sitting side-by-side and I thought how ironic. You have this grand house obviously owned by a wealthy white family and next to it a tiny little place owned by black families. Once in two different parts of town, now neighbors! If the walls in those places could talk!

And it occured to me, that we will be saying goodbye to our 2,000 square foot house, with all the memories good and bad....trading it in for half the living space. We bought this house one year after we married, and we quickly began to live in it. This is the house we brought home our sweet puppy Lucy into, crate trained her and fell in love with dogs. This is the house whose door was opened for countless parties and showers we've hosted. This house welcomed a young college graduate for the summer while he was awaiting a discipleship program. This is the house whose rooms sat empty for a year and a half while we struggled to have children. This is the house that we fostered dogs for the Humane Society and found them permanent homes. This house was approved for foster care and saw 4 babies come and 3 leave. This is the house that our son came home to and stayed. And the place that we brought our baby home from the hospital to. This home welcomed our tiny fur-ball, Oscar. The dusty baseboards, scuffed-up walls, and stained carpet tell the story of our married life. It feels like so much of who we are has happened here. It is sad to have to say goodbye to a home that has been so good to us. But all things are temporary. We want to be careful not to get too comfortable in this world as this was never meant to be our forever home, that is what Heaven is for!

We came the 2 of us, with money in the bank...and we leave here the 6 of us with just enough gas money to get out of town! :)

And we are much richer leaving than when we came.

We will go to a place with 2 bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. And it will be more than enough. It will be the springboard into the future and what God has for our ever-growing family. We look forward to the journey that awaits us, and rest peacefully in our Lord who always knows just what we need and faithfully provides. As fun as it is to have a place that you can paint and decorate, host parties and holidays...to Billy and I it is more significant to have a family to raise and souls to shape for eternity. That is what we want to continue to invest in.

Middle of the Night Humor

I have found this on several blogs (see number 5) :)
Thought I would post it for your enjoyment (at 2:30 in the morning, no less...let's just say my children produce a lot of urine.)

You know you are an adoptive mother (or you should be!) if:
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has ever made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child, there would be no orphans in the world is convicting to you.

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about your adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken a airplane ride half way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.

13. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!

14. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

And here are my contributions to this list:
15. Anyone has ever asked you if the brown skinned toddler by your side was yours and when you said yes, they asked "are your in-laws black?"

16. Random strangers like to tell you about all the people they know who adopted and then their children were returned to birthfamilies...thanks for the info, folks!

17. You are the only parent at preschool that hangs around at pick-up time, wanting to know every detail of your child's day just to make sure he/she is "normal"...but ironically you have lost touch with what normal is!

18. You dream (of your future family) in color.

19. You wonder where your son/daughter is currently living and how old they are.

20. You know that a Home Study has little to do with your actual home.

21. You have ever said to a toddler, "I'm your mommy".

22. You are slightly amused when your child calls "mom!" or asks "have you seen my daddy?" in a public place and people jump into search mode while you are standing right there.

23. You look forward to tax time.

Our Paige

Yesterday, Paige and Jarrett were off from school because of President's Day. So we went over there in the morning and ran errands together, had lunch at chick-fil-a, made smores, and rode the golf buggy. The kids had a great time and fell asleep last night right away!

Jarrett was playing Guitar Hero on their wii during this photo shoot so that is why there are none of him!
Thanks for loving on the kids, Paige!

Baby Shower

Yesterday I co-hosted my sister's baby shower. It turned out really pretty in blue and white. The centerpieces were my creation and oh-so-cute if I do say so myself! She is due mid-April so we are looking forward to meeting our nephew in about 2 months!

Friday Fotos

Which one is not a doggie in the window?

11 Months Old Today!

Besides being Baby's First Valentine's Day in our house, today is also the day our darling daughter turns 11 months old. Can it be?!

She continues to amaze us, surprise us and make us proud as she is growing and changing. Her hair is starting to curl above her ears when she gets sweaty, which is what mine did as a baby- so that is so sweet to me!

The walking has taken a nose dive into the carpet, literally. She decided crawling gets her places faster. But with lots of encouragement we know she will pick it up again in her own time. She has a big brother to keep up with!

She is off baby food and bottles now and is enjoying her wide range of vegetarian entree's! I have given her some meat- tuna fish, salmon, and a little chicken here and there. But for the most part she is a fruit, veggie, and bread girl! This month she will enjoy trying cheese, artichokes, and blackberries. Mmmm.

Here she is opening her Valentine gifts.

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

We Are Officially On The Market!!

Well...a year long decision has finally come to this...we are selling our house! We have decided to down size in an effort to save money and pay off debt. Dave Ramsey would be proud. Having two children on one income has not proven to be an easy challenge! SO we are off on a new adventure to move into an apartment closer to Billy's work and **fingers crossed that it works out** a new preschool for Isaac. Our house officially went on the market this weekend, so in that effort we have cleaned, organized, and perked up our home to show to potential buyers. Apparently it is a tough time to sell, but we know God will honor our desire to live responsibly and live with less Stuff...isn't that all it is anyway! Craigslist has gone well for us as we have been able to sell some of our worldly possessions, and it has felt good!

So for as long as it takes we will live in our newly beautified and clutter-free home until it sells. After boxing up basically all our books, don't you think these shelves in the study look pretty? We earned the title "Tidy Treasure" on our profile description after weeks of hard work. You should see my closets now! Wow.

The kitchen took the biggest hit in the de-cluttering project, no more adorable photos and artwork on my fridge, according to our very picky real estate agent...but hey that is why she gets paid the big bucks, right?! She likes to remind me that my walls are dirty and knicked, and in need of a new coat of paint. I look at these as battle wounds I am proud of. Scars of a house where very active children and dogs have lived. I worked hard for those dirty walls, darn it! And as our tax rep. pointed out, the buyers can paint them. I couldn't agree more!There was actually a time I took a picture of finger prints on the wall (featured above). Disgusting...yeah, okay, sure...but I left those prints there for awhile as a gentle reminder of the blessings that put them there.

Flowers have been added to all the table surfaces. Why didn't I do that 4 years ago? Isn't it cute? But seriously, we are a bit tired of the almost daily treks down I-35. Are there toll tags in our future? We have been ready for a change for sometime...and yes Paige, you will still see us. We will always be in your life! Seems she has taken this the hardest!

Life is full of change. We are ready for a new chapter in our life.

Home to me is where my husband and children are, even if that is only in a 1,000 square feet.

Looks like we will be getting a lot cozier for the next year or so!

Black History Month

As many of you know, February is black history month. This Saturday is the Opening Ceremonies of our city's first African American museum. It is an old house located in what used to be the black section of town back in the early 19oo's. I am currently reading Martin Luther King Jr's Autobiography, which is fascinating by the way. I have heard it said several times over the past month that Martin Luther King Jr. was quite possibly not a Christian because he revered and followed closely the teachings of Ghandi. This bothers me. If you read about him, you will find that he was raised in the church and came from a long family line of pastors. He received his seminary degree in theology and honorary degrees in Divinity from several colleges. He accepted a pastorate position at his family's Baptist church, where he was still the pastor when he was killed. If you read his thoughts and speeches, you will find that they are heavily influenced by the Bible. He had an active prayer life that sustained him as he sat in jail, having been arrested over 30 times. I have taken it to be that his fascination with Ghandi is based solely on his peaceful resistance methods, his influence over social policy and change, and the way he led his life- not on any of his religious or spiritual beliefs. MLK Jr was a very learned man, he read everything! There are pictures of him at his home in Atlanta, and in the background you will see portraits of Ghandi. This could lead one to wonder where portraits of Jesus were in his house if he was a Christian. I don't know if he had these portraits, although they would have just been an artists rendition- not an actual photo, and keep in mind any picture of Jesus in the 60's would have been a very white man...not Jewish or middle eastern in appearance at all...this being during the time of segregation. Something to think about. Here is a small bio written about Martin Luther King Jr. I recommend that you read up on his life. He accomplished ALOT in a short amount of time.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

Sorry I don't know how to make it a cool link with one word- anyone out there that knows how to do that on blogger, I'd love the advice!!

Isaac and I have enjoyed reading his little board book on Rosa Parks and I show him the pictures in his Ruby Bridges book, although he is too young to understand the story. On a side note we we were at Mardel's getting his Boz Valentine's for school and he grabbed up a HUGE picture of MLK Jr. and said "We have to get this for Daddy!" I thought that was funny and wondered why he thought Daddy needed that picture. I assured him when he is old enough to know who that is, we will get it for Daddy. :)

Likewise, it will be important to us to teach him about how there were many whites who stood behind desegregation, who marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr, and sat at lunch counters refusing to be served until their fellow black citizens were given equal treatment; and there were white men and women who drove their black neighbors and friends around town during the bus boycotts. It is important for him to not see it as a black and white issue, but more of an issue of human dignity and respect- that God desires all that are created in His image to be given. People fear those who are different from them and across history discriminate against those differences, whether they be race, gender, or class. We hope to raise our children to take on these challenges to make their communities a better place to live in.

Monae's First Birthday Party!!

Look how adorable this cake is!! We spent yesterday in Austin at my friend Brandi's daughter's first birthday party. It was a pink and brown theme...so cute! Everything came together so well!
Here are the baby girl's in their party clothes! Monae is in pink and brown, of course!
The cake table...so pretty.
Isaac made a cookie at the cookie station.
Here is Mazzie, her friend and Isaac eating snacks.

Waiting patiently for cake.
The hat has got to go!
yummy!
And the classic first birthday pic....

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to.

Actually she was saying, "I want more cake!!"

Present Time!

This child sat during the entire present opening session. She loved it! I can only hope Vivi will feel the same way at her party, but somehow I imagine she will be eating tissue and climbing on top of all the packages.

Isaac enjoyed all the extra attention from grandparents!
Vivi and Monae having their first dinner together.
Isaac loved hanging out with Mazzie. They played in the sand/water table which resulted in him dumping some on her head! Poor Mazzie! They jumped together in the bounce house, ate sandwiches together at dinner, and finished the day watching Mickey Mouse in her room.

Isaac's Homecoming Celebration

Wed. night we celebrated 2 years since Isaac came home to us! Every year we will let Isaac chose the dinner place to celebrate at. Since he is too young to know many food joints, for the past 2 years we have had pizza- his current favorite food. And we also feast on our "forever family" cookie cake- thanks to Nestle Toll House Cafe- it was the tastiest one I've had!

His gifts from Mommy and Daddy were this adorable Larry Boy hat which he has to take everywhere he goes! As you can see Samantha loved it too! And we gave him a kid's worship cd and Veggie Tales t-shirt that is too small so I have to take it back. I can't believe size 4 is too small!